"Read the original text"... Moon Hyeong-bae directly refutes accusations of 'UN forces defamation'

Controversy Over 'Bias' Arises From 15-Year-Old Blog Post

Moon Hyung-bae, Acting Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, directly refuted the controversy over 'political bias' surrounding a blog post he wrote 15 years ago.

On the 29th, Acting Chief Justice Moon posted on Facebook with a link to his blog, saying, "Please read the original text." The post, dated September 2010, recounts Moon's visit to the UN Memorial Cemetery and child and youth welfare facilities as part of a volunteer group from the Busan court.

Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae of the Constitutional Court is speaking at the first hearing of the impeachment trial of President Yoon Seok-yeol held on the 14th at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

The ruling party criticized the post as "an insult to UN veterans." They pointed out that Moon's post reflected a negative perception of the UN forces and appeared to sympathize with the theory of a northern invasion. On the 28th, Park Soo-young, a member of the People Power Party, wrote on his Facebook, "Do you really not know why the UN veterans came to this land?" He added, "Every Korean knows that the UN forces came to defend liberal democracy against the communist North Korean invasion."

He continued, "Do you really believe that the veterans 'tried to achieve unification by means of war'?" and asked, "Did Justice Moon write this post knowing that it aligns with North Korea's so-called 'northern invasion theory,' or was it written unknowingly?"

In response, Acting Chief Justice Moon explained under the blog post that "'Those who try to achieve unification by means of war' refer to North Korea, and the post condemns their invasion under the pretext of unification." Moon clarified, "I went to volunteer to honor the UN forces who participated to maintain peace," and added, "My thoughts are reflected in the idea that 'the UN forces and the director of Isaak's House might be sharing the same dream.'"

Meanwhile, the ruling party has been raising concerns about the fairness and neutrality of the Constitutional Court justices who are currently hearing the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk-yeol. On the 30th, Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, held a press conference at the National Assembly and referred to Moon's past social media posts, claiming that "he blatantly showed bias."

There were also allegations of a 'friendship controversy,' citing that Acting Chief Justice Moon and Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, were classmates at the Judicial Research and Training Institute. Floor leader Kwon said, "Moon has been close with Lee since their days as classmates at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, and Jeong Seong-ho, a Democratic Party lawmaker, vouched that he is one of Lee's closest associates."

The opposition party countered that this was merely "nitpicking." Lee Geon-tae, legal spokesperson for the Democratic Party, issued a statement the day before, saying, "The People Power Party attacked the fairness and neutrality of the Constitutional Court by raising issues over a blog post Moon Hyung-bae wrote long ago and a brief social media greeting exchanged 15 years ago with Lee Jae-myung, his classmate at the Judicial Research and Training Institute." He added, "If this is the case, then the seven Constitutional Court justices who are alumni of Seoul National University Law School, like Yoon Suk-yeol, should also step down from the trial. This is a blatant attempt to express their intention to reject the impeachment ruling against President Yoon."

Democratic Party lawmaker Park Beom-gye also criticized on Facebook, saying, "They are linking Lee as a classmate and launching a typical messenger attack," and called it "a ploy to frame the impeachment trial of the leader of the rebellion in ideological terms as their defeat becomes imminent."